Asian stocks plunge again after latest U.S. sell-off

Wall Street’s woes have spread to Asia again, CNN reports. Stocks in the region plunged Friday, racking up more losses in a brutal week for global markets.

The Nikkei in Tokyo dropped more than 3%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell more than 4%. Shanghai stocks fared even worse, plummeting nearly 6% at one point.

The latest trouble for Asian markets followed more grim news from Wall Street. The Dow closed down 4.1% Thursday after another volatile trading session

It was the second time in history that the Dow has lost more than 1,000 points in a single day. The other time was Monday.

The Nikkei is now down 12% from its peak in late January. That means that like the Dow and some European markets, it’s in correction territory — a decline of 10% or more from a recent high.

Experts generally agree that the U.S. and other major economies are in good shape. But investors are worried about inflation and the possibility that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates faster than previously anticipated in order to rein it in.

The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds hit a four-year high on Thursday. Rising yields in the U.S. government bond market are a decent indicator of fears about inflation.

And if they stay high, they will continue to set a “pessimistic tone” for Asian markets, said Jingyi Pan, a market strategist at stock broker IG Group.